1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to applying a small quantity of deodorizing liquid within a toilet bowl during a single usage of the toilet bowl.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Bathroom deodorizers are not new. Many attempts have been made to control the odor that is found in a bathroom containing a standard toilet as such odors are offensive and embarrassing. Most commonly, various sprays have been used in the air surrounding the toilet. One prior art method teaches manually spraying the toilet area with an aerosol deodorant spray before and/or after use of the toilet. This method of controlling odors cannot be applied at the source of the odor, a toilet bowl, while the toilet was in use. Additionally, a user is exposed to the chemicals composing the aerosol deodorant. Many consumers do not use these types of aerosol deodorant sprays for these reasons.
These problems led to the development of increasingly complex systems which either filtered or vented the air in the bowl, for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,225, or introduced deodorant into the bowl, or a combination of both.
The prior art of filtering escaping odor from within the bowl required complex external fans, ductwork, and power systems. Additionally, venting of the toilet bowl before the odor escaped often required modification of the standard toilet and the placement of unsightly and possibly unsanitary ductwork into the toilet bowl. In addition to being expensive these systems are difficult to install and are not easily removed for cleaning.
Similarly, the prior art of deodorant delivery into the toilet bowl is limited by complexity and its associated cost to effectively stop odor before leaving the toilet bowl. Much of the prior art, for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,445, required modification of the standard toilet, required unfavorable external power sources near the toilet, or made cleaning the toilet more difficult.
Many less complicated deodorant delivery systems are ineffective due to methods of activation. One prior art method shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,605,133 teaches automatically dispensing a deodorizing fluid into the bowl of a toilet having a seat each time the seat is depressed or positioned for use, such as when the user sits on the seat. In this method the fluid may be stored in an aerosol can and sprayed into the bowl or the fluid may be dispensed into the bowl in droplet form from a reservoir located in a remote location. This method cannot discern between movement of the seat intended to dispense the deodorizing fluid and non-usage movement of the seat, for example, such as when cleaning the toilet. These activation methods often produced deodorant regardless of the user's desire or without a way for the user to decide when and how often to activate the system. This results in waste of the fluid due to unintended dispensing. Another problem is that if the user needs to dispense additional deodorizing fluid while utilizing the toilet, the user must unweight the seat enough to allow the dispensing mechanism to recharge which can be awkward.
Therefore, known dispensers for products and known processes for dispensing tend to be complicated, messy (or at least not controllable in the air), not uniform, and limited when an appropriate place to perform the activity is not readily available. Notwithstanding the potential of these prior art attempts to solve the bathroom odor problem, no fully adequate and acceptable solution has been found.
Accordingly there exists a need for an improved toilet deodorizer applicator designed specifically to facilitate the dispensing of the deodorizer or other fluid in a uniform and clean manner into a toilet bowl when desired by the user.